People desire to automate a home, apartment, or office using X10 technology offered by X10 Wireless Technology, Inc. (Seattle, Wash., www.x10.com). X10 technology employs a signaling language to control one or more electrical devices through one or more electrical lines of the home, apartment, or office. One example of X10 technology is an X10 gateway component. A user employs the X10 gateway component and one or more module components to automate and/or monitor the home, apartment, or office. In one example, the user sends one or more messages to the X10 gateway component to control the electrical devices through employment of the module components. In another example, the user receives one or more messages from the X10 gateway component. For example, the user employs the messages to monitor the electrical devices at the home, apartment, or office.
The user in one example desires to communicate the messages between the X10 gateway component and the communication device from a remote location. The communication device connects to a processing center. Upon connection to the processing center, the user gives an employee of the processing center one or more messages to control the electrical devices in the home, apartment, or office. The employee sends the messages through the internet to a landline modem coupled to the X10 gateway component. The X10 gateway component obtains the messages from the landline modem to control the electrical devices.
As one shortcoming, the user can only communicate with the X10 gateway component through the processing center. For example, the user may want to communicate directly with the X10 gateway component. As another shortcoming, the X10 gateway component cannot communicate with the user of the communication device through a mobile network or a broadband internet connection.
Thus, a need exists for an X10 gateway component that communicates messages with a communication device without an intermediate processing center. A further need exists for the X10 gateway component to communicate messages with the communication device through a non-landline internet connection.